Rodney riots

The Rodney riots were riots and civil disturbances in Kingston, Jamaica in October 1968.

The riots were sparked by the Jamaican government of Hugh Shearer banning Guyanese university lecturer Dr. Walter Rodney from returning to his teaching position at the University of the West Indies. Rodney, a historian of Africa had been active in the Black power movement, and had been sharply critical of the middle class in many Caribbean countries. Rodney was an avowed socialist who worked with the poor of Jamaica in an attempt to raise their political and cultural consciousness.

When Rodney attended a black writers' conference in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in October 1968 the government took the opportunity to ban him from returning, citing among other things trips to Cuba and the USSR as justification.

On learning of the ban, students at UWI, Mona began a demonstration under the leadership of the Guild of Undergraduates, closing down the campus. They then proceeded to march first to the prime minister's residence, and then to the parliament building in Kingston. On the way many more demonstrators joined in, and eventually the disturbance became increasingly violent spreading across the city. Eventually, several people were killed and there were millions of dollars in property damages.

The riots were part of an emerging black consciousness movement in the Caribbean, and helped inspire the 1970 Black Power Revolution in Trinidad and Tobago.

External links[edit]

Michael O. West (November 2005). "WALTER RODNEY AND BLACK POWER: JAMAICAN INTELLIGENCE AND US DIPLOMACY" (PDF). African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies. 1 (2). ISSN 1554-3897. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
Walter Rodney and Heresy

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Movements	1968–69 Japanese university protests Zenkyōtō 1968 movement in Italy 1968 movement in Pakistan Civil Rights Movement Anti-nuclear movement Black Consciousness Movement Black power movement Black Power Revolution Chicano Movement Cultural Revolution Gay liberation Hippie movement Human rights movement in the Soviet Union Mexican Movement of 1968 Movement of 22 March Northern Ireland civil rights movement Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War Red Power movement Sexual revolution The Troubles West German student movement Women's liberation movement
Events	1968 Democratic National Convention protests "The whole world is watching" 1968 Polish political crisis 1968 protests in Egypt 1968 student demonstrations in Yugoslavia 1968 Miami riot 1968 Red Square demonstration 1968 uprising in Senegal Båstad riots Battle of Valle Giulia Ceaușescu's speech of 21 August 1968 Central Park be-ins Columbia University protests of 1968 Delano grape strike East L.A. walkouts King assassination riots Mafeje affair March of the One Hundred Thousand May 1968 in France Memphis sanitation strike Miss America protest Occupation of the Student Union Building Poor People's Campaign Prague Spring Presidio mutiny Rodney riots Shinjuku riot Silence March Takeover of Vanha Third World Liberation Front strikes of 1968 Tlatelolco massacre
Related	1968 Summer Olympics Anti-capitalism Black power Counterculture of the 1960s Flower power Free love Hippie Antisemitism in Poland Hot Autumn New Left Racism in the United States School discipline Second-wave feminism Years of Lead (Italy) Morocco Segregation in Northern Ireland Student activism Vietnam War Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia

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